Mobile User Experience Trumps Ads For eBay

One of the Internet's largest retailers – eBay – announced an unexpected move this week. eBay’s president of global marketplaces, Devin Wenig, confirmed to AllThingsD on Wednesday that the consumer auction giant will get rid of ads in its mobile apps in 2013.

eBay is in a cushy spot when it comes to online consumer websites, however. The auction site makes the largest sum of its revenue from selling products rather than from advertising sales like so many other publishers. As online properties move to mobile apps, many may face similar circumstances of mobile advertising damaging mobile user experience; but, as Wenig points out, many companies won't be so lucky.

“Some don’t have an alternative business model. In this case, it’s better to be lucky,” Wenig said.

As consumers continue to lead the push towards mobile, the tight-rope balance between user experience and revenue stream will arise once again. Question is: Will there ever be a happy medium?